Euro 2016: Where did England go wrong against Russia?

After last night’s bitterly disappointing last-minute draw with Leonid Slutsky’s less than impressive Russia outfit, Roy Hodgson and the rest of his determined Three Lions contingency have seemingly been dealt their fair share of criticism in light of England’s unmistakably underwhelming opening result at Euro 2016.

 

Although the Three Lions certainly seemed to apply themselves rather well throughout the vast majority of the game itself – and could easily serve to improve upon their current fortunes in the upcoming fixtures with both Wales and Slovakia – some England fans just can’t get over the old familiar feeling of stark frustration upon the international scene this morning. In light of such a notion, here are three major talking-points from England’s opening Group B fixture with Russia at Euro 2016…

 

 

Where was Jamie Vardy when we needed him?

After registering an impressive 24 Premier League goals down at the King Power Stadium last season, and subsequently playing an instrumental role in Leicester City’s triumphant reign among the upper echelons of the English top-flight – Jamie Vardy’s proposed presence among Roy Hodgson’s chosen starting XI was seemingly all but confirmed in the days leading up to England’s opening Euro 2016 clash with Russia.

 

As the former Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom boss nonetheless opted to start Raheem Sterling ahead of the aforementioned Foxes star however, such an eventuality ultimately failed to take place in the end – and good-God did England certainly suffer as a result!

 

Whilst the Three Lions admittedly played some really nice stuff throughout certain phases of last night’s match, Hodgson’s team where simply missing that all important figure to come in and do the business in the front of goal. As England’s final product was woeful at times to say the very least, Jamie Vardy’s presence among the starting XI could have therefore helped us out massively in the end…

 

 

Why Sterling…Why?

Yet whilst Jamie Vardy was ultimately forced to put up with a place on the bench when England really could have done with his assistance inside the final third yesterday evening, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was somehow given free-reign to work his stuff throughout almost the entire 90 minutes last night in Marseille.

 

The £49 million man absolutely failed to set the international scene alight against Russia, after continuously running into opposing defenders like a headless chicken time and time again. Everyone loves to see a bit of skill and trickery inside the final third of course, but when it also arrives with a distinct lack of end product on nearly every given occasion, the desired affect is often lost rather dramatically when all is said and done.

 

Roy Hodgson arguably lacked the courage to drop England’s most expensive ever player despite Sterling registering a rather forgettable Premier League campaign at the Etihad last season, which arguably goes to show just how little progress England have actually made on the managerial front in recent years.

 

 

How do you solve a problem like Wayne?

Although many England fans have nonetheless taken to Wayne Rooney’s newfound role as a deep-lying playmaker for the international side – was it all really worth it in the end? The Three Lions simply needed someone to stick the ball in the back of the net when the chances cropped up last night after all.

 

With both Rooney and Dier taking up the centre-midfield roles in Hodgson’s starting XI, England arguably set themselves out far too defensively in light of their supposedly inferior opposition. Russia don’t come out to attack their big-name opponents – that much seemingly goes without saying, so why Roy opted to play with a distinct lack of striking potency remains anyone’s guess right in the here and now.

 

Rooney is obviously a very talented player even at this particular stage in his career, but is his overall skill-set simply wasted so far away from the goal-mouth itself? Arguably yes…